Zane's Arc

Chapter 3 of 8

The wolf stood inside the cottage now, and Zane wished he had never opened the door. He had led it over the threshold, and the door had swung shut behind them. The animal froze. Its ears flattened. Its yellow eyes swept the stone walls, the cold hearth, the strange room with no way out. Maya pressed her back against the far wall. A low growl started deep in the wolf's chest. "Don't move," Zane told his sister. His little sister, who had let herself in with the spare key and waited all night for him. He would not let a frightened animal harm her. "Maya. Stay still." She did not answer. She only nodded, her eyes on the wolf's teeth. That was strange for her. Maya always had a fast word ready. Now she kept one hand pressed flat against the front of her jacket, as if she were hiding something there. Zane had no time to wonder about it. The wolf's growl climbed. It crouched. Its shoulders bunched. In a heartbeat it could cross the room. Zane looked around for anything to calm it. He remembered the cold night in the oak tree, how the wolf had let him close only when he stopped pushing. It trusted quiet. It trusted patience. He lowered himself to the floor. He sat down between the wolf and Maya. He made himself small and slow. "Easy," he said. "You know me. We shared the cold." He did not reach for the wolf. He only waited, palms open on his knees, breathing slow. The wolf's eyes flicked to him. The growl thinned. Zane stayed on the floor, still and calm, saying nothing more. Long seconds passed. Then the wolf's shoulders dropped. Its ears rose. It stepped toward Zane and pressed its wet nose against his open hand. The growl was gone. "There," Zane breathed. "There you are." He let the wolf lean into him. Across the room, Maya slid down the wall and let out a long breath. The danger had passed. The wild animal had chosen the house, and it had chosen him. Zane looked up to smile at his sister. That was when he saw it. Her hand had slipped from her jacket. On the back of it, dark marks curled across her skin, like cracks spreading through stone. They pulsed faint red, then faded. Maya caught his stare and yanked her sleeve down fast. "It's nothing," she said. Flat. Final. But Zane had seen. The wolf was calm now, curled warm against his leg, home at last. His sister was not. Something was wrong with Maya, something she meant to hide from him. He had made peace under his roof. Now a new fear sat in his chest, and it wore his sister's face.